The 2014 All-Greater Rochester Player of the Year transferred from UMass and in her first season with the University at Buffalo she leads the team in scoring as they head into Saturday's NCAA Tournament.
Jeff DiVeronica

Buffalo's Cierra Dillard drives around South Florida's Maria Jespersen, center, and Alyssa Rader to attempt a shot in a first-round game of the NCAA women's college basketball tournament on Saturday in Tallahassee, Fla.(Photo: AP)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Former Gates Chili star Cierra Dillard leads Buffalo in scoring. The Bulls now have their own scoring record.

Dillard poured in a career-high 36 points with six rebounds and No. 11 Buffalo set a record for most points by a double-digit seed in NCAA Tournament history with a 102-79 victory over No. 6 South Florida in the first round Saturday.

Dillard made a career-best seven 3-pointers as Buffalo hit a season-high 14 from beyond the arc en route to the program’s first victory in the NCAA Tournament.

“Starting with the last five minutes of the first half, we were just feeling it; making stops, getting steals and just finding the flow of the offense,” said Dillard, after tying for the third-most points in a game in school history. “When we push in transition, we’re a transition team and the offense just flows naturally.”

Buffalo coach Felisha Legette-Jack received two important text messages before her team faced South Florida.

The first came from Buffalo men’s coach Nate Oats on early Friday after the Bulls upset Arizona in the first round. The second came from Central Michigan’s Sue Guevara prior to Saturday’s tipoff after the Chippewas pulled off their own upset of LSU.

Buffalo's Cierra Dillard looks for an opening in the defense as South Florida's Laura Ferreira defends during a first-round game at the NCAA women's college basketball tournament on Saturday in Tallahassee, Florida last spring. Dillard helped UB reach the Sweet 16.(Photo: AP)

Both had the same message – “It’s your turn now.”

The Bulls, who are the first team from the Mid-American Conference since 1996 to earn an at-large berth. lived up to that message.

“All they wanted was a chance to dance and to be on the stage and just to see what they can become. Today the magic happened,” Legette-Jack said.

Buffalo (28-5) trailed 29-18 midway through the second quarter but went on a 20-7 run to close the half and take a 43-38 lead at halftime. Courtney Wilkins, who came off the bench to score 23, had eight points during the run and Stephanie Reid added six.

Buffalo continued its momentum at the start of the third quarter, scoring 13 of the first 15 points, including eight by Dillard, who was the 2014 All-Greater Rochester Player of the Year. South Florida was within 82-68 four minutes into the fourth quarter but Buffalo put it away with a 14-2 run.

Buffalo was 14 of 27 from the 3-point line, including 7 of 13 from Dillard.

“Whenever they did miss shots, they seem to get all the offensive rebounds or we ran down the floor and came up empty,” South Florida coach Jose Fernandez said. “We faced a team that was terrific on every aspect of the game. You have to give them credit.”